14 more suspects charged in alleged Bangor cocaine ring

Members of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, Bangor Police Department and the Bangor special response team execute search warrants in the area of 100 Ohio St. on Wednesday morning after a drug investigation.

Linda Coan O'Kresik | BDN

Members of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, Bangor Police Department and the Bangor special response team execute search warrants in the area of 100 Ohio St. on Wednesday morning after a drug investigation.

BANGOR, Maine — The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency said Thursday it has arrested and charged 14 people in connection with a Bangor-based cocaine ring.

Four other people believed to have been involved were charged by federal drug agents on Wednesday.

The charges stem from an investigation into the alleged cocaine-trafficking operation that resulted in two drug raids conducted at four apartments at neighboring apartment buildings 100 and 102 Ohio St. on Wednesday.

The 14 people who were arrested by the MDEA and the charges they face are as follows:

Some of the suspects were charged in the weeks leading up to the raid and others were arrested as recently as Thursday, said Darrell Crandall, commander of the MDEA’s Division II.

MDEA agents are still on the lookout for three suspects facing charges for their roles in the operation, Crandall said in a press release. All of the suspects named will be prosecuted by the Maine Attorney General’s Office.

During the raids, agents seized what Crandall described as a “large amount of documentary evidence in the form of records and receipts.” He said agents also seized a small amount of cocaine and a stolen handgun.

“These search warrants were a small but important piece of a very complex and time-consuming investigation,” he said.

MDEA’s role in the drug probe began in late July at the request of the Bangor Police Department. Crandall said MDEA agents worked diligently to identify members of a group of individuals who were selling cocaine and crack cocaine in Greater Bangor and to collect evidence of their criminal drug activity.

“In just three months, MDEA agents were able to infiltrate a criminal organization, learn their methods of operation and bring more than a dozen suspects before the court to face felony charges,” he said. “This group was responsible for selling a staggering amount of cocaine that was being brought to the area from New York.”

The MDEA investigation ran parallel to a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration investigation and included some of the same suspects. The two agencies shared information, coordinated the timing of the arrests and the searches of the apartments on Ohio Street.

“We are working to bring as many of those involved forward for prosecution as possible,” Crandall said.